


Letter J: Job-Related Trauma

by authorangelita (angel)



Series: Fic Alphabet Challenge: Teen Wolf [14]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Deputy Stiles Stilinski, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Future Fic, M/M, Teacher Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 03:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6356677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel/pseuds/authorangelita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deputy Stiles has a very bad day at work.  Derek takes care of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letter J: Job-Related Trauma

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Fic Alphabet Challenge at [my Tumblr](http://authorangelita.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Warning: There is an off-screen death of a minor OC character that affects Stiles. There's brief discussion of his mother's death and Derek mentions his own parents' deaths.

_Dad sent me home_

The text came through during Derek's planning period, so he actually had time to check his phone and regard it with concern. While it wasn't an unusual message to receive from his husband, it had always been followed immediately by a request for cough drops and Theraflu. 

Before he had a chance to respond, another text appeared. 

_Pick up ribs on your way home?_

Derek's frown deepened. Stiles only ate ribs when he was thinking about his mom. It had been their special meal together, and Derek understood the sanctity of that. He felt the same about tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches. 

The next one broke his heart: _Please_

 _Of course_ , he sent back quickly. _I'll see you later. Love you._

He took a deep breath and hit the speed-dial for his father-in-law. 

"Stilinski." The Sheriff sounded worn out and worn down. That didn't bode well for why his husband was home instead of doing his afternoon patrol as a deputy.

"What happened? Stiles was sent home?"

"Have you talked to him?"

"No. He texted and asked me to get ribs later."

"Damn." The swear was under his breath, but Derek heard it easily. His own heart rate kicked up several notches as he waited for Stilinski to explain. "There was an accident. Stiles was out on Route 50, watching for speeders, when it happened. He saw the whole thing, sedan versus a pickup truck. There was a woman and her son in the sedan." He paused, and Derek's heart dropped. He knew where this was going. "The woman didn't make it."

"Damn," Derek echoed the earlier curse. "I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover my last class. Kira has a planning period, I think. I'll call you later."

"Thanks, Derek. Take care of him."

~~!!~~

It didn't take long for Derek to talk Kira into subbing his American History class. The students were taking a practice test and working on their end-of-semester research papers, so she just had to make sure that none of them caused any mischief. 

In record time, he packed up the stack of papers that still needed to be graded and the lecture schedule he'd been revising. Luckily, the Stilinski-Hale home wasn't very far from the school. Derek and Stiles had built their house closer to town than the original Hale house had been. 

Derek stopped to pick up the ribs on his way, despite the fact that it was barely half past two. He highly doubted either he or Stiles would want to leave to get them later, and he'd promised. 

The shower was running in the master bath when he got home, so he put the ribs in the warming drawer under the oven and headed upstairs. Along the way, he stripped out of his navy blue Henley, kicked off his shoes, and dropped his dark-wash jeans by the side of the bed. 

Stiles was sitting in the corner of the shower with his knees pulled up to his chest while hot water rained down across his shoulders. Steam obscured his face but not enough that Derek couldn't see the tears. 

He shucked his boxers and turned down the water's temperature a little as he stepped inside the large shower. Stiles' shoulders were red from the heat of the water, and Derek had no idea how long he'd been in there. It had taken him at least forty minutes to talk with his father-in-law, then Kira, and then to stop and pick up the food. 

Neither spoke as Derek sat down and gently maneuvered Stiles until the younger man was sitting in the V of Derek's legs with his back against Derek's chest. Stiles turned just enough to tip his head back and be able to press his forehead against Derek's stubbled jaw. 

They sat there silently until the water turned cold. Easily, Derek got them both on their feet and out of the shower. He toweled Stiles off and wrapped his own robe around him before drying himself and pulling his boxers back on. 

Then, Derek guided Stiles under the covers of their bed and lay facing him. His hand moved to Stiles' hip, and his thumb rubbed slow circles against the skin as he waited for Stiles to speak.

"You're early," was the first thing he said. "Did Dad call you?"

"No. I called him. He gave me the basics."

Stiles nodded, eyes avoiding Derek's face. "I knew this job would be hard, that there would be things I'd see or do that would be awful. Today is the first day I wished I'd done something else." His eyes welled with tears, and Derek wished he could leach this away like he could physical pain.

Back when Stiles had been in the police academy, an officer had sat them both down and talked about the realities of life as a deputy and as a deputy's spouse. Derek had learned nothing that he hadn't already considered but having it presented to him was enough to shake him. There was the possibility that Stiles would be seriously injured, the possibility that he would see or do things that would cause anxiety or depression, the possibility that he would be killed in the line of duty. The wolf in him demanded that Derek take care of his husband, but it also demanded that he support him. Stiles had spent his entire life dreaming of being a cop like his father, and Derek couldn't take that away from him. That didn't mean that he had to like Stiles' chosen profession all the time though.

"Do you think you can sleep?" Derek asked him softly. Stiles looked exhausted, his heart was nearly racing, and sadness was bleeding off him like there was a never-ending supply.

Stiles shook his head and moved closer to Derek. He was quiet for several long moments, but Derek heard him counting his breaths softly as he tried to calm himself. "It was terrible, Der. There was a little boy. He was nine-years-old. That's about how old I was when my mom-"

"I know," Derek interrupted before Stiles had to say the word. "I was only a little older. It's something no kid should have to go through."

Stiles gulped back a sob, and Derek pulled him even closer until Stiles' head rested on his chest and their arms were wrapped around each other. There wasn't anything he could say to make it better, so he just held on as tight as he dared and let Stiles cry himself into an exhausted sleep. 

The Sheriff would make sure that Stiles spoke with the department therapist, which was one of the many reasons that Derek loved his father-in-law. Derek had his own part in taking care of Stiles too though, so he set his alarm to make sure that he would get Stiles up in a couple of hours to eat and watch the worst that reality TV had to offer to try and take his mind off everything. 

~End


End file.
